Tiltable beach umbrella



Jan. 13, 1970 PEARLSTINE 3,489,157

TILTAB LE BEACH UMBRELLA Filed May 2'7, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l/VVE NT OI? MORTON PEARL .STl/VE AT T OR/VE V5 Jan. 13, 1970 M. PEARLSTINE 3,439,157

TILTABLE BEACH UMBRELLA Filed May 27, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 #vvnvrom H26 MORTON PEARLST/NE ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,489,157 TILTABLE BEACH UMBRELLA Morton Pearlstiue, 1419 Old Welsh Road, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. 19006 Filed May 27, 1968, Ser. No. 732,445 Int. Cl. A4511 11/00 US. Cl. 135-20 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tiltable beach umbrella is disclosed wherein a main tubular support includes upper and lower portions hinged together. A sleeve is telescoped over the hinged joint to maintain the portions in alignment. A collar surrounding the support is connected to the ribs for supporting the fabric. A cord has one end anchored to a rotatable member on the lower end of the support, the cord extends through the support and out of the upper end of the support, and then downwardly to the collar. As the cord is wound up, it raises the collar so as to expose the hinged joint whereby the umbrella may tilt.

This invention relates to an automatically tiltable beach umbrella of the type shown in my Patent 3,311,119. While the umbrella as disclosed in such patent performs satisfactorily, the present invention has been devised in an attempt to reduce the overall cost of the umbrella. The

present invention eliminates the need for threaded shafts and meshing gears as disclosed in said patent while attaining the overall result in a different manner.

In accordance with the present invention, the upper portion of a tubular support is caused to tilt with respect to a lower portion thereof by means of winding up a flexible member such as a nylon cord. One end of the cord is anchored to a rotatable member on the lower portion of the tubular support. The cord extends through both the upper and lower portions of the support and emerges from the uppen end of the support. The other end of the cord is anchored to a collar slidably supported by the tubular support. As the cord is wound up, the fabric supporting ribs pivot to their expanded position and the collar is raised until it exposes the pivoted joint. Further winding of the cord causes the upper portion of the tubular support to tilt with respect to the lower portion.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel automatically tiltable beach umbrella which is inexpensive and reliable.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an automatically tiltable beach umbrella structurally interrelated in a manner whereby opening of the umbrella and tilting is effected by winding up a chord on a rotatable member of the tubular support.

The above and other objects as may hereinafter are accomplished in a manner which is simple while at the same time sufiiciently durable and has suflicient strength so as to resist wind and other forces which might interfere with the proper usage of the umbrella.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view of a typical beach umbrella and stand without the umbrella fabric and with the umbrella in a collapsed position.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged detail view, partly in section, of the tubular support for the umbrella intermediate its ends.

FIGURE 3 is a partial elevation view showing the up- 3,489,157 Patented Jan. 13, 1970 per portion of the tubular support tilted with respect to the lower portion thereof.

FIGURE 4 is an exploded view of the joint structure.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5--5 in FIGURE 2.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein like numerals indicate like elements, there is shown in FIGURE 1 a tiltable beach umbrella designated generally as 10. The umbrella 10 includes a table 12. The umbrella 10 includes a tubular support having a lower portion 16 and an upper portion 18. Portion 16 extends through a hole in the table and is supported by a stand 14.

A collar 20 is slidably supported by the lower portion 16. Each of the fabric supporting ribs 22 is pivotably coupled to a flange 25 on collar 20 by means of rods 24. Each of the ribs 22 is pivotably connected to the upper end of portion 18.

As shown more clearly in FIGURE 2, a shaft 26 extends through the lower portion 16 and is supported by bearings 28 and 30 made from a polymeric material such as nylon. A friction fit between the bearings and the shaft 26 results in the shaft remaining in any manually indexed position. A flexible member such as nylon cord 34 has one end anchored to shaft 26 and is adapted to be wrapped therearound by rotation of handle 32.

The cord 34 extends through the lower portion 16 and the upper portion 18. A pulley 36 is rotatably supported by portion 18 adjacent the upper end thereof as shown more clearly in FIGURES l and 2. The cord 34 extends around the pulley 36, and merges out of the upper portion 18, extends downwardly along the outer periphery of portion 18, and has its free end anchored to the flange 25 on collar 20. Hence, rotation of handle 32 will raise or lower the collar 20 as will be made clear hereinafter.

The portions 16 and 18 of the tubular support are hinged together by sleeve structures 38 and 40. Sleeve structure 38 includes a tubular portion 39 which is forcefit into the upper end of portion 16. Likewise, sleeve structure 40 has a tubular portion 41 which is force-fitted into the lower end of portion 18. A stop shoulder 42 is provided on sleeve structure 38 and a similar stop shoulder 44 is provided on sleeve structure 40. Sleeve structures 38 and 40 are pivotably interconnected by a pin 46.

As shown more clearly in FIGURE 4, sleeve structure 38 is bifurcated so as to have a pair of legs spaced from one another by a slot 48. The slot 48 extends for the entire length of structure 38 but is wider at the upper end than at the lower end. Notches 50 and 52 are provided in the legs defined by slot 48 and are coextensive with said slot.

Sleeve structure 40 is provided with a pair of legs 54 and 56 adapted to be received within slot 48. Limit stops 58 are provided on the sleeve structure 40. Each limit stop 58 is adapted to be received within one of the notches 50 and 52. The limit stops 58 cooperate with an end face of the notches to limit the pivotable extent of the portion 18 with respect to the portion 16 as shown more clearly in FIGURE 3.

As shown more clearly in FIGURES 2 and 5, the structure 38 is provided with vertical limit stop surfaces 60 which are adapted to contact a projection 62 on each of the legs 54 and 56. When projections 62 contact the surfaces 60, the structures 38 and 40 are coaxial and aligned with one another. The structures 38 and 40 are maintained coaxial and aligned with one another by means of a locking sleeve 64 telescoped over at least a portion of the joint.

Locking sleeve 64 has a radially outwardly directedflange 66 which overlies flange 25 on collar 20. Collar 20 and sleeve 64 are in abutting end-to-end engagement with one another.

A helical coil spring 68 surrounds the locking sleeve 64.

One end of the coil spring 68 abuts the flange 66 on looking sleeve 64. The other end of the coil spring 68 is anchored to the upper support portion 18 by means of a screw 70.

The operation of the tilting beach umbrella is as follows:

It will be assumed that the fabric supporting ribs 22 are collapsed. Hence, the collar will be in its lowermost position. As the handle 32 is turned, the cord 34 is wound up on shaft 26 and collar 20 is pulled upwardly in sliding contact with the lower support 16. As the collar 20 moves upwardly, the rods 24 cause ribs 22 to move to an open disposition. Also, as collar 20 moves upwardly, it pushes the locking sleeve 64 upwardly.

Before the collar 20 uncovers the joint, the ribs 22 will assume a completely open disposition. Continued Winding of the cord 34 around the shaft 26 will cause the collar 20 to slide upwardly for a suflicient distance so as to uncover the joint whereby legs 54 and 56 may pivot out of the slot 48 about the axis of pin 46. Cord 34 is connected to flange on collar 20 at a location between the legs 54 and 56 on structure 40. Hence, continued Winding of the handle 32 causes the upper portion 18 to tilt with respect to the lower portion 16 until lugs 58 engage a limit stop surface in the notches 50 and 52. Thereafter, continued winding of handle 32 has no effect on the disposition of the umbrella. Due to the friction between shaft 26 and the bearings 28 and 30, the shaft 26 stays in any preset position.

When it is desired to collapse the umbrella, the handle 32 is rotated in an opposite direction so that the cord 34 is unwound from shaft 26. The spring 68 was collapsed as the sleeve 64 slid upwardly. The spring 68 now expands and slides the sleeve 64 and collar 20 downwardly and cams the structure 40 to an upright disposition until projections 62 engage surface 60. In order that the cord 34 does not interfere with the tilting operation, structure 38 is provided with a channel 72 within which the cord 34 is disposed. Thereafter, continued unwinding of the cord 34 causes the ribs 22 to collapse to their inoperative position.

The present invention may be embodied in other spe cific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof.

I claim:

1. A beach umbrella comprising a main tubular support including an upper and lower portion hinged together at a joint, a collar slidably disposed around said support, a

locking sleeve slidably disposed around said support and above the elevation of said collar, said locking sleeve being telescoped over at least a portion of the joint to maintain said upper and lower portions aligned, a flexible member having one end anchored to a rotatable member supported by said lower portion, said flexible member having a major portion of its length disposed within said support, said flexible member extending out of said upper member adjacent the upper end thereof and extending along the outer periphery of said upper portion, the other end of said flexible member being anchored to said collar, fabric supporting ribs connected to said collar so that the ribs assume an open disposition as the collar moves upwardly, spring means biasing said sleeve downwardly to a position wherein said locking sleeve surrounds the joint and prevents the upper portion from tilting with respect to the lower portion until the sleeve is moved upwardly by the collar to a position wherein both the collar and the locking sleeve are above the joint, whereby rotation of said rotatable member winds up said flexible member and causes said collar and locking sleeve to slide upwardly to uncover said joint.

2. An umbrella in accordance with claim 1 wherein said flexible member is a nylon cord, said joint including sleeve structures pivotably coupled together, and said cord extending through said sleeve structures.

3. An umbrella in accordance with claim 2 including a pulley supported by said upper portion of the support, said cord extending around said pulley and through an opening in said upper support adjacent said pulley.

4. An umbrella in accordance with claim 3 including limit stops on said sleeve structures to limit the angle of inclination between the upper and lower portions as well as limiting the aligned position of the body structures.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 738,554 9/1903 Lingel 28798 X 2,549,573 4/1951 Clark 28798 X 2,649,104 8/ 1953 Militano. 2,721,569 10/ 1955 Militano.

2,819,725 1/ 1958 Deisenroth et al. 2,863,466 12/1958 Small. 3,150,671 9/1964 Frey. PETER M. CAUN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. -46 

